National Republican., 1887-07-25

Witt Talmage's subject this morning was:
preaching, Teaching, and Exhortation," and
his test, Romans, xli,- 49, "0r ministry, letus
wait on our minlstering; or he that teacheth,
on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhoTta-
tion."
BE fore the world is converted the style ofre
ligious discourse will hive TO be converted.
You might as well go into the modern Sedan
CT Gettysburg with bows and arrows instead OF
rifles aud bombshells and parks OF artillery as
10 expect TO conquer this world for God by tho
old styles OF exhortatiou and sermonology.
Jonathan Edwards preached the sermons most
adapted to tho age In which ho lived, but If
those sermons wero preached now they would
divide Gn audience into two classes those
sound asleep and those wanting 10 go home.
But there is u religious discourse OF the fu
ture-who will preach It haye no idea, in
what part OF the earth II Will be born have
no idea, in which denomination Of Christians
1t will be deliyernd cannot guess. That dis
course or exhortation may be born In the
country meeting.house on the banks OF the st.
Lawrence, or the Oregon, or the Ohio, or the
Tombgbee, or the Alabama. Tho person who
shall deliver IL may this moment be In cradle
under the shadow OF the Sierra Ncvadas or In
q New England farm house, or amid the rice
fields OF southern sayannss. Or this moment
there may be some young man In some oil our
theological seminaries, Ia the junior or middle
or senior class, shaping that weapon of power.
or there may be coming some new baptism Of
the Holy Ghost on the churches, so that some
ofus who now stand in the waich-towers OF
Zion, waking to realization Of our present
ineflicit ncy, may preach II ourselves. That
coming discourse may not be fifty year3 oil.
And let us pray GOD that Its arrival may be
hastencd whilc / announce to you what
think will be the chief characteristics OF that
discourse or exhuItatou when IL does arrive.
and ! want to mako the remarks OF the morn
ing appropriate and suggestive TO all classes OF
Christian workers.
First OF all Tremark that that future rcligi.
Gus discourse will be full OF O living Christ In
contradis,inction to didactlc technioaiities. A
discourse may be full Of Christ though harily
mentioning his name, and a sermon may be
empty Of Christ while every sentence is repe-
titious OF His titles. The world wants living
Christ, not Christ standing ut the head OF a
formal system Of the ology, but a Christ who
means pardon. and sympathy, and coincidence,
and brotherhood and lie, and heaven. A
poor mans Christ. A rioh mans Christ An
oyerworked mans Christ. An iiivalid's
Christ. A farmers Christ. merchants s
Christ. An artisans Christ. An every man's
: Christ.
A symmetrical and flne-woried system OF
theology is well enough for theological classes,
but has no more businessin pulpit than have
the technical phrases Of an auatomist or q
psychologist or physician In the sick room OF
patient The world wants help, immediate
and world uplifting, and II will come through
discourse in which Christ shall walk right
Ing possession of 1t, filling 1t as full of light Us
is this MONDAY flrmanent.
That sermon or exhortation Of the future
will not deal with men Ia the threadhare Illus
trations Of Jesus Christ. In that coming ad-
dress there will be instances Of vicHrious suf-
feripg taken right out OF oyery day hic, for
there is not o day somebody Is not dying for
others. AS the physician saving his diphther-
i,ic patient by sacrificing his own life; as the
ship captain going down with his vessel, while
no Is getting his passengers into the life boat;
as the fireman consuming In the burning build.
u
story window; rs in summer the strong swim
mer at East Hampton, or Long Branch, OF
Cape May. or Lake George, himself perished
trying TO rescue the drowning; as the newspa
per boy one summer, supporting his mother
for some years, his invalid mother, when
offered by gentleman so cents to get some
his anxiety 10 deliver It, and was crushed un-
der the wheels OF the train, and lay on the
grass with only strength enough to say: "Oh
what will become OF my poor sick mother
now"
Vicarious suffering. The world Is full of 1t
An engineer said to me on locomotive In Da
kota: 1--WE men seem TO be coming 70 better
appreciation than we used TO. Did you sec
that account the other day of an engineer who
to save his passengers stuck to his place, ant
when he was found dead in the locomotive
smiling, his hand on the air-brake?' And a
the engineer said 1t to me, he put his hand OF
the air brake to illustrate his meaning, aud
looked at him and thought: "You would be
Oh, in that religious discourse of the future
there will be living illustrations taken out iron
everyday life Of ylcarious suiiering.illustra
rifice of Him who. IN the high places OF the
field, on the cross, fought our battles and wep
our grieis, and endured our struggle, and died
German sculptor made an image Of Christ
and he asked his little child,2 years old,who 1
was, and she said: "That must be some verS
the criticism, SO he got another block OF mar
BILE and chiteled away on 1t two or three years
and then he brought in his little child, : or
s%s 9 s.g and sbs he a to hs1 mi %ho be Ss
One who took little children in His arms ant
blessed them" Then the sculptor was salts
fled. Oh; my friends, what the world wants I
not severely magisterial Christ, but loving
Christ, spreading out His arms OF sympathy u
press the whole world to his loving heart
course OF the future will be short. Condensa
tion is demanded by the age in which we live
No more need oflOng introdnctions and loni
applications. and 50 many many divisions 70 o. = dis y
In other days men got all their information
| from the pulpit There were few books ant
there were no newspapers, and there was lit
would cit and listen two and q half hours to
religious discourse, aud "seyenteenthly'
would find them fresh and clipper. In thos
70 the subeS
| an hour to cool off But what was q necessit'
then is superfuity now. Congregations ar
| full OF knowledge from books, from news
papers, from rapid and continuous intercom
munieation, and long disquisitions of wha
| they know already will not be abided. lff
| religious teacl er cannot compress what h'
forty-iye minutes, better adjourn IL to SOM
other day.
The trouble is we preach audiences into O
Christian frame and then we preach them ou
much capacity OF attention. aud when That Il
| exhausted he ~ restless. That accident on tn
Long Island railroad. some years ago. cant
froni tho fact thatthe hrakeswere out oforder
and when they wanted to stop the train the,
| could not stop, and hence the casualt!
| was terrific. In. all religious Discourse
| We want at the same time stout brakes 70 le
| down at the right instant II is dismal thinl
| after hearer has comprehended the whole
L subject to hear man say, NOV to recapitu
tion," r and "onec sN more" s az and W" "hnallS az,
"now to conclude"
Paul preached until midnight, and Eutychu
ms nscfp sO@e would saw Gooa
him." ! would rather be sympathetic lik'
Paul and resuscitate him. That accident
| often quoted now In religious circles as a warn
ing against somnolence in church. II is Just a
much a warning 10 ministersagainst pro olixity
| Eutychus was wrong In his somnolenee
but Paul made q mistake when he kept or
uptll llIluI1Rnt., ne OuHuLIu nhNe htUpptu n
II o'clock, and there would have been no ac
Il oident. IfPaul might have g1ne on 10 too gres
| length, let all those OF us who are now preach
ing the Gospel remember that there Is q limi
to religious discourse, or ought TO be, aud tina
| in our timo We haye no apostolic power oi
miracles.
Napoleon In an address OF seven minutes
thrilled his army and thrilled Europe. Christi
| sermon on the Mount. the model sermon, wa
less than eighteen minutes long at ordinary
mode OF delivery. II is not electricity scat
tered all over the sky that strikes, but electri
city gathered into thnnderbolt and hurled
| and 1t 10 not RELIGIOUS truth scattered over,
spread out over a vast reach of time. but re
| ligious truth projected in compact form tina
| flashes light upon the soul and rives Its indif
I ference.
| When the religious discourse OF the future
| arrives In this land and In the Christian
L church. the discourse which Il TO arouse tho
world and etartlethe nations aud usher in th'
l Kingdom, II will be q brief discourse. Hear 1
| all theological students, all ye just entering